The Falcon   |   Volume 81, Issue 26

Published 6/02/10   |   Log In

Jackie Ahrens sews for fun, business

Junior and clothing designer Jackie Ahrens makes sure everything fits just right on her model, freshman Brittany Emch, before they begin to shoot her new pieces.
Photo credit: EMILY MOREHOUSE/The Falcon.

Student entrepreneur turns love of fashion into online venture

By EMILY MOREHOUSE, Opinions Writer

Published: June 2, 2010

As she sat making clothes on her mother's 60-year-old sewing machine, junior Jackie Ahrens' father told her she had two options: get a job or start a business.

Her business, Designs by Jackie Ahrens, would be the first step toward making her passion for sewing into a thriving business. She was 13 years old.

The young designer did not allow age to discourage her, though. With her father pricing items and her mother helping with finances, pieces started to sell.

Today, this entrepreneur juggles the responsibilities of running an online business, living the life of a junior majoring in apparel design and keeping connected to her family -- all while finding time to design and sew.

Thinking back to when she first started selling her designs, Ahrens laughed, recalling how she would look for any excuse to get behind a sewing machine.

The project did not matter, even if it meant sewing 130 purses for a boutique, vests for her Girl Scout troop or Christmas gifts for her friends.

Now, with her business showcasing about 30 of her creations, Ahrens said she does not feel like she is doing anything special.

"That's always been my thing," Ahrens said. "Anybody can sew. Maybe I fell into it easier than other people, but I don't think that I necessarily have a unique skill. I just like it so therefore go farther in it."

Freshman Samantha Storz models junior Jackie Ahrens' designs and helps photograph them. Photo credit: EMILY MOREHOUSE/The Falcon.

Jaeil Lee, assistant professor of family and consumer science, who teaches fashion related classes on campus, said she sees more apparel design students selling their designs because of the availability of technology.

Lee encourages students to build blogs and online portfolios while in school so that future employers will be able to look at them after graduation, she said.

"Everybody really puts their emphasis on technology," Lee said. "It's good when they can look at these Web sites and say, 'Wow, these people are really tech savvy and trendy.'"

Another big part of being successful in the fashion industry is having the drive to succeed, Lee said.

"You have to have passion for what you're doing and talent," Lee said. "If you don't have passion, then forget it."

Ahrens said her journey from her California sewing room to her current Dravus Street apartment has required not only goals, but dedication.

As Ahrens progressed from selling her pieces at craft fairs to friends and later to friends of friends, she slowly began to build her skills and gain popularity.

In 2004, she began to display her work online.

Although Ahrens called it ridiculous, she said she began by selling her designs on Myspace.com because she did not want to pay for a Web site.

In 2008, when managing this method became too hectic, Ahrens discovered the Web site she currently uses, Etsy.com, and renamed her business ChariotsAfire, she said.

The 13-year-old-girl who once designed on her mother's sewing machine became a woman who is starting to see her sewing dreams materialize.

After years of remnant picking, sewing, ripping out and creating a number of pieces she called "avant-garde in a bad way," Ahrens said she has gained valuable experience now useful to her major.

In an environment where many resources are not available, Ahrens said she always finds ways to make it work.

"I have less time, but I've been making time by staying up all night," Ahrens said. "For me, this is more of a priority; I mean, I do care about school, but I love (sewing). And I can actually justify, in my head, sewing instead of doing homework."

Even when she lived in Ashton Hall her sophomore year, Ahrens said she would use her desk as a sewing table.

Now, sitting in her apartment, Ahrens uses the kitchen table, looking as at home as any designer would in his or her studio.

With her sewing machine to her right, an iron to her left and her Apple computer, sporting a beaten up "Obama/Biden" sticker in front of her, Ahrens cuts, measures and pins in an attempt to produce the perfect piece.

"I like making perfect clothing, like construction wise, perfect clothing," Ahrens said.

As a designer, Ahrens can easily spend 20 to 30 hours per week sewing, which means other things have to move out of the way, she said. Once she decides on something, she focuses.

Her newest focus is her newly photographed pieces by fellow students junior Emily Stock and freshman Samantha Storz, Ahrens said.

In the past, her designs have been modeled by friends, Ahrens said. But after this shoot, she hopes the designs will be displayed in a way people can see their potential.

"I just love the way that clothes can change everything about someone," Ahrens said. "The way that people see you, the way you see yourself, the way you think about your body and your confidence."

In the future, Ahrens said she hopes to own her own boutique. But for now, as she waits for the pieces to fall into place, she just keeps sewing.

"I don't think the world needs to be made over," Ahrens said, "but I think affordable clothes that people like and recognize should be something they should just be allowed to wear, even if it's a little bit out of the box for them."

Ahrens does not only sew for her business, though; she sews for her life, her family and her friends. Her business is only an extension of her passion, not the focus, she said.

"The best part is I get to make whatever I want, for the rest of my life, on my own time," Ahrens said.

In the end, she said all that matters is that she keeps sewing.

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